Surfing through the umpteen zillion channels of the local calbe system one very late evening, I came across the same infomercial about a guy selling a "course" on how to buy real estate at property tax sales. Photos of homes with prices under $500 were shown on the screen. "It's legal in 50 states" was constantly repeated by the "guest" while being interviewed by two "reporters".
That got me thinking: what is the likelyhood that could happen in my market where land values are at least $1M per acre and usually much more?
In California, in order for a tax sale to even be held, there is ample time and notice for the tax defaulted property to be redeemed by the owner ...
- a notice of impending defaut must be published by the tax collector
- then a FIVE YEAR redemtion period is available to allow the owner to make the property taxes current while still in possession of the property
- after the 5 year redemption period, a Notice of Power and Intent To Sell is sent by registered mail to the owners last known address at least 45 days prior to the sale
- the sale must be published in a newspaper of the county at least once per week for 3 weeks prior to the sale
- the tax collector must make a good faith effort to sell the property within 2 years after it becomes subject to sale
There is also the issue that delinquent proerty taxes are usually sufficient grounds for a lender to foreclose on a loan secured by real property. That process can take 3 months and 20 days if a Trust Deed is the security instrument or about 12-18 months if judicial foreclosure is used. Both of these are much shorter time frames than tax default and sale by a tax collector.
The results of my brief research? Very few people in Silicon Valley will ever see a Notice of Sale published by a tax collector or have the opportunity to create great wealth by buying scores of properties this way. Another "get rich quick scheme" you can confidently pass by while channel surfing.
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